Wannacry Attack: Google Researcher Alleges North Korea Links

Days after the global ransomware attack hits more than 300,000 in 150 countries, the Google researcher of Indian – origin – Neel Mehta has identified the cybercriminals. The researcher has claimed that ‘Lazarus Group” might be behind all the recent Wannacry attacks in the countries. Indeed, Wannacry is asserted as the biggest global ransomware attack in the history of internet.

The claims are made on the basis that some of the similar tools and coding which were used in previous attacks have been found in the recent Wannacry ransomware as well.

According to Mehta, the China-based ‘Lazarus Group’ was also alleged for a major hacking attack on Sony Pictures in 2014 and on a bank in Bangladesh in 2016.

The group is said to be working for North Korea.

On this, the cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab’s researcher Kurt Baumgartner said, “Neel Mehta's discovery is the most significant clue to date regarding the origins of WannaCrypt.” The firm added that more viable facts and figures are needed to prove the claims. “We believe it is important that other researchers around the world investigate these similarities and attempt to discover more facts about the origin of 'WannaCrypt',”

Furthermore, there are speculations that the similar tools and coding used in Wannacry can be intentionally included by the skilled hackers to divert everyone’s attention towards Lazarus Group and North Korea.

For the moment, the White House has announced that less than $70,000 has been paid to the attackers globally. White House Homeland Security adviser Tom Bossert also added, "We are not aware of payments that have led to any data recovery."

The first wave of Wannacry attack has left countries in an uproar to secure every vulnerable exit and has woken up the security authorities to amend any loopholes to eradicate the slightest chance of cyber fire sale of financial assets in a country.